The Cyote Kid
by Icka M. Chif
Summary: Western AU Drop back 150 years, to where the west was being won, bad guys wore black and white clad bandits flew the skies.
1. The First Meeting

The Time they Met (aka Western AU) 1 of 4  
  
By Icka! M. Chif  
  
+++  
  
The first time they met, Hakuba Saguru didn't have a clue who he was.  
  
It was an accident, he'd been given some bad directions by the dark haired idiot who had loaned him the horse and was now hopelessly and completely lost as to where exactly the next town lay. All that could been seen for the naked eye for miles and miles was mesquite trees and sage brush. Which had been interesting to look at when he had first seen them, oh, several days ago.  
  
And the sun was also now setting. While this was helpful in the fact that he now had a clear reference point as to which direction West lay in. This meant that the stars were now coming out, another useful thing since he had learned how to navigate via the constellations when he was just a small child.   
  
But this also left him in a precarious situation. Alone, out in the untamed wilderness with nothing but his friendly Smith and Wesson, and the horse he was riding.  
  
The horse was about as thick as a brick, and had no sense of direction. Fool thing kept trying to find cliffs to walk off of. He was tempted to let it. If he didn't need it to get to the next town.   
  
Which he didn't know where it was.  
  
He'd been just about ready to call it a day and start up a small fire to warm his dinner and go to sleep when he saw a light in the close distance. Which briefly sputtered out, then grew larger. A small campfire amid some scraggly trees.   
  
Campfire meant someone else in the wildness. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who exactly it was.   
  
Depending on who it was could also mean waking up alive and not waking up at all.   
  
He debated it a moment, then moved the loaned horse in that direction. If he continued to stay lost, he could also end up dead. It was really just a mere matter of percentages when you got right down to it.  
  
The person spotted them in the fading dusk light as they approached in the fading dusk light and rose, arms casually resting at their sides as they radiated an air of cautious friendship. It was a young man, about his own age, wearing worn pants, long sleeve shirt over another shirt, vest, suspenders, boots and no hat Saguru noted absently, squirreling the information away. No gun in sight either, unless it was hidden in the small travelling pack next to the fire or in the slight lean-to beside it. No sign of a horse.   
  
The clothing was for a colder climate than what he had been dealing with all day, probably a traveller or a worker on his way from the mountains to the next town, he concluded. He paused a respectful distance from the figure, allowing them to get a look at him as well.   
  
A grin crossed the other person's face, bright white gleaming in the shadows. "I'm not too keen on guns, if that's what you're worried about." A cheerful voice called, as the weight was shifted off the balls of their foot, rocking back onto the heels in an easy posture. "Care to share the fire tonight?"  
  
"I would be most honoured." He agreed, relaxing slightly at the invitation. He climbed off the horse, leading the idiot beast over to introduce himself. "Hakuba Saguru. Pleased to make your acquaintance."  
  
"Call me Kaito." The grin flashed again as he shook his hand. "There's a good tree for hitching your horse to for the night over there. Plenty of scrub to eat. You'll pardon me if I don't help, not too keen on horses either."  
  
"Not a problem." No horses would explain why he was on foot then. "I'm just grateful for the invitation."  
  
"We all need company once in a while." Was Kaito's easy answer. "Not many people wander this way. Taking the scenic route to Beika?"  
  
"You could say that." He admitted wryly, tossing the reins to a branch and taking off the saddle. The horse huffed at him and immediately started to roll in the dirt. He scowled at it, hanging the saddle and bags over a branch.  
  
Kaito laughed, a bright open sound as he crouched back down next to the fire as the last bit of sun set, casting them into starlight. Moon rise wouldn't be for a bit and he found himself grateful for the light and the company. "Let me guess. You borrowed the horse from Hattori Heiji, to return to the sheriff at Beika. Heiji's a nice guy, but lousy sense of direction."  
  
"I take it you're a local then?" He was relieved to find he wasn't the first to be mislead by the friendly dark-skinned boy.  
  
"Somewhat." An enigmatic grin was flashed at him. "I travel around lot, know lots of people around here. I'll give you the right directions to Beika in the morning."  
  
"Many thanks." He sat down on a rock conveniently placed near the fire with a muffled sigh of bliss. Horseback riding was not as easy as it looked, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was very much out of practice. The chance to actually -sit- down was a welcome one.   
  
Kaito chuckled at his reaction. "Where you headin' to, if you don't mind the question? I may know a faster route."  
  
"Ekoda." He replied easily. "My father asked me to come out and help with the family business."  
  
"Ah. From back East then." Kaito nodded sagely.  
  
"New England, actually."  
  
"Heard it's pretty up there."   
  
He felt a pang of homesickness. "It is. Nothing like out here."  
  
"Heh." The dark haired boy smiled reassuringly at him. "Wait until you get to Ekoda, you'll never want to leave. Pretty little town."  
  
Saguru leaned forward, eager for more news about the place that was to be his new home. "You're familiar with the place?"  
  
"Almost settled down there." A quick flash of melancholy? regret? flashed across his face. "Met a girl there with the biggest blue eyes you've ever seen, and a temper hotter than the sun at noon. You'll prolly meet her there, Nakamori Aoko, the sheriff's daughter."  
  
"Your sweetheart?"  
  
"Not any more." A sheepish grin was flashed, making Saguru wonder if smiling was another language. "There was an incident with a small boy locking himself in a supposedly unpickable safe and things didn't turn out quite so good."  
  
There didn't seem to be much he could say to that without prying. "I'm sorry to hear that."  
  
"Eh, me too. Such is life." Kaito shrugged. "You hungry?"  
  
His stomach chose that moment to wake up and growl. He put a hand on it, trying hard to ignore to ignore the bead of sweat sliding down the back of his head. Kaito just laughed, pulling out a rabbit he had caught earlier for dinner. He dragged out some biscuits he had gotten at the last town, and they scraped a decent meal together with some hard candy sticks for dessert.   
  
While the food wasn't the most spectacular, the conversation and the company more than more than made up for it. They started out by exchanging bits of information from where he had come from, Kaito telling him stories of the people and events in the local area.   
  
Such as how Hattori Heiji was known as the 'Teenage Detective of the West' and Kudo Shin'ichi was his rival/best friend, the 'Teenage Detective of the East'., never mind that Heiji lived to the East and Kudo to the West. (Heiji's family had travelled from East to West to live where they were currently and Vice Versa with Kudo's family). To watch out for a roving bandit gang but were easy to spot due to their tendency to wear lots of black. All the way down to the frivolous stuff, such as who made the best cookies and pies in the region.   
  
From there the subject travelled, from every topic they could think of to simply swapping random stories. Kaito turned out to be a natural storyteller, weaving tall tales that left him laughing with stitches in his sides with the same ease most people would drink water.   
  
Saguru had been extremely delighted and pleased to meet someone that not only his intellectuals equal and had a wide range of interests, but was a pleasure to not only talk to but to listen to as well. He'd had no problems agreeing to deliver a parcel to the sheriff when he got to town. After all, he had to return the horse as well.  
  
It was late into the night, long after the moon had finally risen when they finally called it a night, sleeping on opposite sides of the banked fire. The lean-to was too small for both of them to fit under, but provided some rough protection from the wind.  
  
He woke up the next morning shortly after the sun rose to find the fire put out and both Kaito and Kaito's stuff gone. A map had been drawn in the dirt where the other boy had been sleeping directing him to the next town via hard to miss landmarks.  
  
It wasn't for several hours later when Saguru noted two very distinct unusual things about his previous night's companion.   
  
One, his eyes had looked almost purple in the fire light, a very rare and unusual colour.   
  
And two, he couldn't remember seeing any tracks around the campfire aside from his and the horses.   
  
It was like Kaito was a ghost, or a phantom.   
  
He shivered at the thought. The town came into view at that point and he promptly forgot about it.   
  
Until he had returned the horse to Sheriff Megure, who was easy to spot after Kaito's description. He also met Kudo Shin'ichi then, who had verified the fact that Megure never took his hat off, even to bathe, which caused him just a bit of disconcern.   
  
Megure's shout when he opened the white-fabric wrapped bundle had drawn everyone's attention to them, and many demands of where he had gotten it.  
  
After a confusing face pinching and a brief explanation later on his part, Hakuba Saguru was told for the first time about the Cyote Kid.   
  
A thief dressed in a white suit and a cape, who left a warning notice, then robbed banks, safes, rail cars, stagecoaches and what ever else he could get his hands on, then RETURNED what he had taken to the previous owners.   
  
Such as he had just had the dubious pleasure of returning the contents of the town safe that had been removed the day before.  
  
A thief people said could fly.  
  
Also known as The Phantom Thief, the White Clad Bandit, and most importantly...  
  
Kuroba Kaito.  
  
-fin-   
  
17 Sept 2003  
  
Heh. Okay... one of those random things that pops up when you least expect it. In this case, I think it's a throw back to our trip to AnimeFEST, and driving for 10 hours through Arizona, New Mexico (my homestate! XD) and Texas.  
  
The safe thing is a reference to an O. Henry story. More explained next time. ^__^  
  
"The second time they met, Hakuba Saguru didn't recongise him." 


	2. The Second Meeting

The second time they met, Hakuba Saguru didn't recognise him.  
  
It was hardly his fault. Several months had passed since the first time he had met the thief and he was far from looking for him.  
  
In fact, he was on the train heading towards where he had first met Kaito. The thief had been right, Ekoda felt like home, but he found himself travelling quite a bit. He had come to help his father, a judge, and discovered the need for his schooling and services as a lawyer. Wills to be drawn up, contracts to negotiate, disputes to settle. He had been helping the police back east occasionally as an amateur detective and found himself doing that here as well, although the lack of intimate knowledge of the surroundings did cut back his efficiency. Most of the larger cases were handled by Hattori Heiji and Kudo Shin'ichi anyway.  
  
Although rumour on the wind had it that something had happened to Kudo recently, and the Detective of the East was currently in hiding.   
  
He had boarded the train, heading towards the back of the train to be away from the black soot that billowed from the smokestack. The only other occupant was a blond haired woman in a blue-violet dress that had been last years fashion back east. He ignored her for the most part, pulled out a newspaper that someone had been foolish enough to leave behind at the train station and started reading it to catch up on what had been the most current events in the east as of week ago according to the paper's date.   
  
The train chugged along for a while as he read, caught up in the world of current events until it slowed down and came to a stop. For the most part, he tuned out the noise and confusion that people getting on and off the train caused until he heard some rather loud voices talking and noticed a couple of salesmen, dressed up for a pitch.  
  
He glanced over at the woman, who also had a newspaper out that she was pursuing, then glanced back at the salesmen, who had also noticed her.   
  
He picked up his small travel bag and stood up, walking over to the woman. "Is this seat taken?"  
  
She looked up at him, one blue-violet eye visible from under the tilted hat that covered her face, then looked at the salesmen walking her way and looked back up at him before motioning for him to have a seat. "Please."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
He placed his bag between them and sat. "Hakuba Saguru."   
  
"Yoshida Nobara. Pleased to meet you."  
  
"The pleasure is mine."  
  
Introductions done, they went back to their papers.  
  
If it was one thing Saguru was good at, it was being a wall. The salesmen got the hint and sat on the other end of the car, for which he was grateful for.  
  
The train started up again, it's rocking jostling them before they adapted to it once more.  
  
Time passed while they read. She finished her newspaper first, and without a word, he set part of his paper on top of his travel bag. she nodded, exchanging the papers, and they continued reading. He finished his paper shortly there after and traded it with hers.  
  
It was a local paper, from farther west than Edoka.   
  
He flipped through it, his eyes falling on an article featuring a recent escapade of a familiar character.  
  
The Cyote Kid.   
  
He skimmed the article, then pulled a small notebook out of his vest pocket, flipped a few pages and began to scribble down various facts with his fountain pen.   
  
This gained Miss Yoshida's interest, who watched him with a puzzled air. "You are interested in the Cyote Kid?"   
  
"Eh, sort of." He shrugged gamely. "I had the dubious honour of meeting him once and have been trying to learn more ever since. Unfortunately, my information is lacking, to say the least."  
  
"I did too" The blond woman's head tilted slightly as she smiled. "He saved my life."  
  
"Your life?" He echoed.  
  
"Yes." She smiled at him, fingering the dress she was wearing. "He hijacked the stage coach I was riding in, knocking out the driver and taking us to town via a different route. It turns out there were some bandits ahead waiting for us. If he hadn't done that, all of us would have most likely died in the ambush."  
  
Interesting story. The Kid was known for robbing trains and the occasional stagecoach as well as banks, but this was the first time that he had heard of a reason other than borrowing someone's belongings.   
  
On the other hand, the Cyote Kid didn't kill anyone either.   
  
"Perhaps I might be of some assistance to you." Miss Yoshida offered. "I've been looking for more information on him as well, and the interesting facts don't always make it to print."  
  
This was true. Oftentimes information was left out to make it easier for the sheriff to find the actual person rather than a copy cat.   
  
And while he wasn't much of one for idle gossip, it would be an interesting way to pass the time.   
  
"Alright." He flipped through his small book. "Most of what I have here is where he's been, what he's stolen, but I don't have much back history. Where he got the name 'Cyote Kid', and the like."  
  
"Name I can help you with." She smiled, a friendly gesture. "You have heard of his real name?"  
  
"Kuroba Kaito." He nodded.  
  
"There was a clerical error, about the time he first started making a name for him." Yoshida explained. "Kaito, 'K-A-I-T-O' became 'K-A-I-O-T', Kai-ot. Or Cyote, like the Indian trickster spirit, the Coyote."  
  
"Whom he obviously takes after." He added wryly. "With his attitude and propensity towards mischief."  
  
The smile was approving. "Exactly. They'd actually been calling him a Coyote for about a year before the name 'Cyote Kid' stuck."  
  
"And the 'Kid' part? He is not that young, nor has he been doing this for that many years."  
  
"More years that you would think, actually." Her expression turned older. "There's a very old rumour that his father, Kuroba Toichi, was a thief many years before Kaito was born. His father was the head of a travelling entertainment troupe. There was an accident, and he died, about eight years ago. The name 'Kid' was created by Kudo Yusaku, the father of Kudo Shin'ichi, the Detective of the East."  
  
"I've heard of him." Hakuba nodded. "A Dime-novelist, writes the Western Mystery series 'The Night Baron'. The series is very popular back east."  
  
"That's him. Kudo Yusaku occasionally tried to catch the original thief, and the sheriff would occasionally draw him into their meetings. During which, an assistant had added up the amount stolen and returned adding up to 1,412 dollars. Mr. Kudo had noticed and commented that with the assistant's sloppy hand writing, it looked more like 'K-I-D', and commented that perhaps the Night Baron should go up against 'Bandit Kid' in his next book. The name stuck, for lack of a better identity."  
  
"So Bandit Kid was the father of Cyote Kid, passing the name down." He mused. A family of criminals.  
  
Miss Yoshida nodded, the smile back on her face. "The name was added after it was revealed that Kuroba Kaito was the Kid, a couple of years ago in Edoka."   
  
"I never heard about how that happened." He confessed. He had met both Nakamori and his daughter, who was everything Kaito had said she was, but he had felt reluctant to pry too deeply into the subject. Especially considering Sheriff Nakamori's outburst upon learning they had met.  
  
And Kaito's mother, who lived not far away from town, was a very nice lady. They had helped each other on several occasions.  
  
"Ah, yes." Miss Yoshida sat back on the uncomfortable bench. "It happened when the town bank had received a new safe from back East, one that was supposedly unpickable and unbreakable."  
  
"A small boy somehow managed locked himself inside, didn't he?" He mused. Kaito had mentioned something about it when they had first met. .  
  
She nodded. "Exactly. The whole town had come out to see the new safe and it caused a panic, everyone trying to figure out how to open the safe without killing the boy. Now keep in mind that the Cyote Kid had been quiet for several months, people were thinking he had been killed or retired."  
  
"For her, right?" Pieces began to fall into place. "He mentioned that he had once had a sweetheart, the Sheriff's daughter. He had given it up to stay with her."  
  
"So rumour says." She agreed. "Rumour also says that he had a package with him that day, to be mailed off on the train. He opened it, knelt down and began to work on opening the safe. The whole town watched as he did so, watched and timed him open the unpickable safe in record time, the open box next to him. And when they looked in the box-"  
  
"The Cyote Kid's affects." He finished. They had had him, lock, stock and barrel.  
  
"Precisely. The Sheriff pulled his daughter away from the thief who had just saved a small boy's life and from what I understand, things got a crazy after that. Kuroba took the box and left, never to be seen around Edoka again." She eloquently spread her hands, signalling the end of her tale.  
  
"Fascinating story."   
  
The topic of discussion turned away from the Cyote Kid and towards other subjects after that. Articles they had read in the paper, local politics, current events, things to look forward to. The rest of the trip passed by reasonably quickly, until both of their stops came up.   
  
He helped Miss Yoshida disembark the train and gather her luggage, offering to share a carriage with her to the local hotel to save on costs. She looked at the horse pulling the carriage and shook her head, declining the offer.   
  
"One thing before you go, Mr. Hakuba." She placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. "Say you do catch up with the Cyote Kid, what will you do?"  
  
The question had taken him a bit by surprise, and he pondered it for a moment. "Ask him why he does it." He finally answered.  
  
She smiled at him, then reached up and cupped his face with a hand. "Thank you." She said, reaching up and kissed his cheek.   
  
And then she vanished into the crowd with out a trace.  
  
It took a few moment for the shock to wear off before his feverishly spinning mind informed him that under that concealing hat, Miss Yoshida's eyes were a rich violet up close.  
  
A language of smiles.  
  
Dislike of horses.  
  
When he had frantically looked around after that, Miss Yoshida, the Cyote Kid, had completely disappeared  
  
-fin-  
  
Yoshida is Ayumi-chan's last name.  
  
Nobara means 'Wild rose'  
  
The character Yoshida Nobara was greatly inspired by Rosalind (Rose) Hawkins, from 'The Fire Rose' by Mercedes Lackey and Dr. Sarah Gay from the Star Trek: TOS novel 'Ishmael' by Barbara Hambly. Most of the train trip was inspired by the former, the switching of newspapers inspired by the latter.   
  
The story takes place in our mind roughly the last half of the 1800's. Fountain pens were invented in 1849, and with all the legal stuff that Hakuba does, it makes sense that he would have one. (wow, we did research!)  
  
We have been Informed that in this story line Yoshida Nobara is a relative of Ayumi-chan and did in fact meet the Cyote Kid when he took over the stagecoach that she was riding in. She gave him the dress that he is wearing in this story, as a Thank You for keeping them from being robbed/killed. ^^  
  
Next chapter:  
  
"The third time they met, Hakuba Saguru caught him." 


	3. The Third Meeting

The third time they met, Hakuba Saguru caught him.  
  
He'd been looking for the Cyote Kid.  
  
... sort of.  
  
He knew that the Kid travelled disguised as a woman now, a fact that he was pretty sure that no one else was aware of. He also knew he probably should have passed that information on to some of the others trying to capture the Cyote Kid as well, such as Hattori Heiji and Kudo Shin'ichi, but it was kind of nice having a lead on them. That and Kudo Shin'ichi was definitely missing. No one knew where he was.  
  
Rumour also had it that there was something going on with Hattori Heiji as well, but no one was quite sure of what. The Detective of the West was being exceedingly secretive, something out of character for the loud detective.  
  
So when Saguru travelled, he kept an eye on the women travelling, something that he learned to do subtly after a rather lousy incident with a young woman and her over-protective beau.  
  
It was not an incident he cared to repeat.  
  
Fortunately, not one that he had been anticipating to repeat in the Stagecoach between Kobe and Kyoto. While it had been... entertaining to referee the match between the rivalling Kohnan and Ohgane Clans, he was looking forward to reaching Kyoto and hopefully from there, home.  
  
Constant travel was exhausting.  
  
There were four other people in the stagecoach with him, a pair of bickering young teenagers that he had thought were brother and sister until they introduced themselves as Kurogane Yaiba and Mine Sayaka, and they were Just Friends, Thank You Very Much.  
  
She was carrying what looked like a squeaking sea cumber and a spiked frog rode with him. A very large striped tiger and a huge vulture also appeared to be following them around as well.  
  
He sat -across- the stagecoach from them.  
  
Next to the two teenagers was a skinny elderly man with one of the biggest, fullest moustaches he had ever seen. And laughed a lot. And carried around a large glass jar that made noises like someone was dropping coins into it despite the fact that no one could see anyone putting coins into it. He hadn't caught the older man's name and considered himself somewhat fortunate for that.  
  
And sitting next to him was an elderly gentleman who had pleasantly introduced himself as Kounosuke Jii, told them in a high wavery voice it was an honour to meet them all, then crossed his arms, braced himself against the seat in a manner that bespoke of much time spent travelling, and promptly fell asleep.  
  
Saguru figured he was the only other sane person in the stagecoach.  
  
Time passed, and he had entertained himself by reading Kudo Yusaku's latest Night Baron mystery and solving it before he reached the end. By that time, the other teenagers had finally wore themselves out talking and fell asleep, curled up against each other, the sea cucumber and frog resting on top of them like strange twitching plushies. So he pulled out his notes to review the latest titbit of Cyote Kid information he'd learned.  
  
The Kid did have a gun. That shot, out of all the improbable things, playing cards.  
  
He was trying to figure out how a gun could shoot something that could technically be considered wadding for black powder when Kounosuke startled him slightly by suddenly waking up with a startled jerk.  
  
They stared at each other for a moment before the elderly man yawned and asked what time it was. He fished his pocketwatch out of his vest watch pocket and told him. He took a moment to fondly run a finger over the top of it, emblazoned with his family crest, a dancing white horse, before slipping it back into it's proper spot.   
  
Kounosuke noticed and chuckled fondly at him.   
  
"A present from my Grandfather." He explained. It had been a gift when he first went to school, most likely to assure that he would get to his classes on time. But it was a good watch, and never lost time.  
  
... Unless he forgot to wind it.   
  
"Ah." Kounosuke nodded. "A very good one too at that."  
  
The stagecoach hit a bump, sending the papers in his lap flying as they hastened to brace themselves. The teenagers stirred for a moment, readjusting themselves before falling back to sleep, the frog and the sea-cumber pulling out a miniature deck of cards and playing a game on top of their slumbering forms. Saguru pointedly ignored this. If he didn't see it, he didn't have to try to figure it out.  
  
"Master Toichi's card gun." Kounosuke commented, handing him notes that had fallen to the seat between them. "A fine piece of working art, that is."  
  
"Master Toichi?" He echoed. Kuroba Kaito's father?  
  
The elderly man nodded. "Kuroba Toichi. I used to travel with him and his family, before his supposed accident."  
  
He pounced upon that scrap of information. "Supposed accident?" He echoed. "You mean it wasn't an accident the first Kid died?"  
  
"Goodness, no. Was no more an accident than someone reaching over and killing a pesky fly with shoe." Kounosuke bristled a bit. "Was those bastards in black, getting rid of an annoyance to their organization."  
  
"Kaito warned me about them..." He mused, remembering their first meeting, when he thought of the wild hair boy as a friend, before he had learned of the Kid. He'd heard vague rumours since then, but nothing concrete. Whoever they were, they were more ellusive to track down than the Cyote Kid. "Told me to keep an eye out for them."  
  
The man with the jar snorted, stirring in his sleep, and they both paused, realising that he was dressed in black as well. Then the moment passed, and they resumed their conversation in hushed tones.  
  
"Wise words." Kounosuke commented quietly. "There were people in black slinking around our tents before Master Toichi's last performance. Officially, his death was an accident when one of the horses in the acts became startled by a wasp and threw Master Toichi before trampling him."  
  
"My god..." Saguru breathed. No wonder the Kid was phobic of horses. "Kaito saw the whole thing, didn't he?"  
  
"The horse charged at him after Master Toichi stopped moving." Kounosuke said sadly. "He escaped with a few cuts and bruises, and a nasty blow to the head." The elderly man tapped the temple of his left eye, where his left eye was a medium blue, while his right was a slightly darker hue. "The horse ran away after that. When it was finally stopped, I found several slivers of wood covered in an strange liquid in the blanket on the horse. They had been digging into the normally gentle creature's hide and driving it insane."  
  
Saguru felt sick. "So that's why he took up his father's mantle."  
  
"Master Kaito didn't know about his father's activities at the time." Kounosuke looked faintly sad. "I can only surmise that he discovered recently, and took up his father's cause."  
  
Heralding the return of the Kid after an eight year disappearance. "Stealing and returning gold?" He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Stopping the men who killed his father." Kounosuke corrected gently, a small smile on his face. "They killed Master Toichi for his interference, after all. Or so I believe."  
  
Saguru frowned slightly, his brain turning over these latest bits of information and fitting them into the puzzle of the Cyote Kid. It felt right... but it also felt like he was missing pieces of the puzzle. He still didn't understand why the thief stole.  
  
The teenagers woke up shortly after that, insisting to join the card game the frog and sea-cumber were in and Kounosuke drifted back to sleep.  
  
He never did figure out how the sea-cumber held on to the cards.  
  
The rest of the trip passed by in the haze of travel and unending bumps, and he was more than happy to finally reach Kyoto and the hotel's soft beds.  
  
Only once there, he found himself unable to relax to sleep. His mind was too full, the mystery getting too dark. It settled uneasily in his stomach.   
  
He'd finally pulled on his coat and shoes, deciding to take a walk to clear his head. He hadn't gotten more than a block when a cry went up from the other side of town that the Cyote Kid had just robbed the bank.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white shadow flash past the gap between the houses behind him.  
  
He took off running. "HALT!" He shouted, darting between the houses to the side street where the Kid was running pell-mell down the back alley.   
  
The thief, of course, ignored him as he wrestled with the white cape on his back which was apparently not cooperating with him.  
  
As he ran, Saguru spotted a lariat resting on a back post and scooped it up as he ran, the rough woven rope biting into his the skin on his fingers. The coil of rope loosened in his grip as he grabbed for loop at the end when he remembered a very important fact.  
  
He still hadn't learned how to toss a lasso.  
  
Never one for setbacks, he did the next best thing he could think of, tossing the entire bundle of rope at the Kid. It struck him on the back of the legs, tripping the lanky boy and tangling in his legs, causing him to crash into the ground.   
  
Kid hit the ground hard and Saguru winced as he heard the grunt as the wind was knocked out of the thief's lungs. The dark haired boy rolled on to his back, a wheeze in his breath as he sat up to free his legs from the tangle of rope.  
  
Saguru closed the distance between them, grabbing his shirt and pulling him upright. The thief's eyes flickered to the rooftops above them, as if gauging how easily he could climb up there, when a shadow flickered across his face.   
  
The Cyote Kid raised his hands in surrender, his mismatched eyes sparkling with resigned mirth and a weak grin on his face, even as the shouts and pounding footsteps of the townsfolk closed in around them.   
  
"The duster suits you better than that giant coat I first met you in." The dark haired boy said genuinely as the local sheriff ran up, grabbing the raised wrists.   
  
Things became chaotic then, as the sheriff escorted Kaito away and people crowded around him noisily, talking and laughing and patting him on the back.   
  
He just stood there, feeling unsettled as he realised...  
  
He'd never gotten to ask his question.  
  
-fin-  
  
Kurogane Yaiba and Mine Sayaka and the animals are from one of Gosho's earlier series, Yaiba. The frog and the sea-cumber are actually two of eight youkai that were sent to kill them by Yaiba's rival Onimaru. (who is trying to take over the world) Those two youkai end up joining Yaiba, and the sea-cumber often travels in Sayaka's blouse/cleavage.  
  
Ran has a charm on the end of her cellphone of the same sea-cumber, by the way. ^__^  
  
The old man with the coin jar, Kohnan and Ohgane are references to another one of Gosho's earlier series, Yoban Saato, or Third Base Fourth.   
  
The old man's kinda like a jinn, he grants their wishes of being able to play baseball like they want to with a bat and a glove. In order to channel the abilities they want to use, they have to put money in their back pocket. The money then magically falls into the coin jar the old man carries with him.  
  
Kohnan and Ohgane are the names of the baseball teams the two boys who make a deal with him play on. You see them in Detective Conan vol. 43 & 44  
  
Give us time, and we'll eventually throw in references to 'Goshow Presents' as well! XD  
  
I'm not sure that was actually Jii who was talking with Saguru, or Kaito dressed as Jii. Sorry.  
  
No clue where the whole Horse/Toichi's death thing came from, it just showed up. Much like the rest of this fic. ^^;;   
  
Next Chapter:  
  
"The fourth time they met, Hakuba Saguru saw him hang." 


	4. The Fourth Meeting

The fourth time they met, Hakuba Saguru saw him hang.

The hanging had been delayed until noon the next day, primarily so people could get their chores done in the morning, knowing that it would probably turn into an impromptu party that would last for hours, regardless the outcome of the hanging. Word travelled fast and anyone who could make it on time, was. Kyoto was flooded with people coming to participate in the spectacle, bets being wildly placed on anything from if the Kid was actually going to hang and how he'd escape, to how many times the body would twitch before he finally died.

Saguru found the latter rather lowbrow and declined to place any bets, much less comment on the entire affair. Everywhere he went, people were either toasting him for catching the illusive Kid or wanting him to recant how he'd captured him. Neither of which he had much interest in, the entire celebration leaving him faintly queasy with bitter tasting ashes in his mouth.

He still hadn't gotten a chance to ask the Kid his question, distracted first by people congratulating him, then later when he'd finally been able to slip away for some peace and quiet by several figures in dark clothing attempting to silence the Kid permanently via turning the jail into Swiss cheese with many guns.

Okita Soushi, a teenage swordsman and Sheriff of Kyoto, had dispatched several permanently quickly and ruthless with the sword he carried with him everywhere. Saguru had taken several out himself, using not such permanent means, only to find much to his dismay that he was unable to question them on their reasonings for the attack due to the fact that an escaping member of their group made sure none of their comrades would be able to talk. Ever.

Kid, after attempting to assist and bandage both Soushi and Saguru, was sent back to his cell. Neither had seen him slip out of his cell, much less how. When questioned why he hadn't left during the melee, the thief simply pointed to the cooling corpses that lay scattered around the rooms, then pulled out a deck of cards and began to play. It was safer in jail, even with the sentence hanging over his head. Literally.

At that point, Soushi simply let him play. By that time he'd taken away five decks of cards away from the thief and yet Kid always seemed to have more.

Then his night had taken a distinctly odd turn with the appearance of more people, which then lead to him waiting on the fringes of the crowd as Soushi lead the Kid, hands tied behind his back, out of the jail house to the gallows, where the noose and the hangman waited for him.

Kid acted strangely serene for someone being lead to his execution. It was a grace he'd heard about before, a bit of gallows humour, but this seemed to transcend it a bit, a strange combination of resignation and the overall feeling that the thief had something up his sleeve.

Which was too bad, seeing as Saguru had his own plans to ensure that the Kid -didn't- escape.

The people around him raised their voices, cheering, shouting and booing as was their want. Soushi and Kid ignored them, continuing their walk unabated, the sheriff with a firm grip on thief's upper arm until they were both safely above the crowd's restless mass.

A hush descended upon the crowd as Soushi read the list of charges (-when had Kid impersonated a catholic school girl?!) against the Cyote Kid out loud and the hangman placed the noose around the Kid's neck, pulling the loop close so the thief couldn't slip his head out of it. "Any last words?" The hangman's rough voice gravelled, not unkind but not forgiving either. Saguru had been informed on the side that the hangman was also the town's undertaker. He'd make some money tonight.

Kid's head tilted to the side, his mouth slightly open as if weighing his words. Saguru glanced at his watch, and then smiled to himself, snapping it shut and slipping it back into his pocket. Almost time. He slowly backed up until he was standing next to a large saddled horse.

A rumbling sound sounded in the background, like a faint thunder on the plains. It was barely noticeable at first, then within people began to notice and shift nervously. Kid straightened, his taller perspective allowing him to see farther in the distance. The thief's pallor suddenly went pasty white as the colour drained from his face from something more terrifying than the imminent threat of death by strangulation.

It wasn't until the screaming came within range that the real screaming began. The crowd screeched and scattered, people running for the buildings and clearing the dirt streets in record time. Saguru smiled to himself, pulling a white sheet out of the saddlebags of the horse he was hiding beside and pulled it over him, his head sticking out of a hole in the centre, making a white poncho. A second strip of white material was wound around his head, neck and shoulders, like those nomads from Arabia, hiding his features just in time for the wave of the one thing that scared the Cyote Kid to death more than dieing to hit.

Horses. Dozens of them. All different shades, sizes and colours. All of them running full tilt down the main street. Towards the gallows. Towards the Kid.

The hangman saw the animals approaching and knocked the thief off his perch before leaping off the wooden structure and running towards the safety of the tavern.

Kid dropped like a rock, his mouth and eyes open wide in terror.

Damnation.

With a not-so muffled curse, Saguru jumped onto the horse and spurred it into the street as the first wave of horses hit. If the noose had been tied properly, Kid's neck would have been snapped by the weight of the rope as soon as he stopped falling.

A howling yell from behind him let him know he was not alone in the stampede. The cavalry was here as well.

His horse jumped on top of the gallows without complaint, they'd practised this last night, but with out the crowd. The large beast shifted in a circle nervously, knocking off Soushi, who gave them a small worried salute as he jumped off and 'dove' for the cover of the gallows. Saguru spared him a brief thought of gratitude. Soushi was good people.

He grabbed the Kid by the waistband, hauling him partly on to the saddle with a small sense of relief. Whomever had tied the noose hadn't given it the thirteen twists to it, thus not giving it enough weight to toss the head to one side and break Kid's neck. It was acting as a glorified slipknot, strangling the thief instead. Kid sagged against him, his entire body a limp dead weight as he wheezed in an effort to breathe again.

Another horse, a painted one bearing a second white-wrapped figure, joined him on the wooden structure, causing it to groan under the combined weight. A sword flashed in the sunlight, dramatic against the chaos around them. Kid's weight suddenly increased as the rope holding him up was severed, almost causing Saguru to over balance, then he braced himself in the stirrups and hauled the still limp thief over the front of his saddle like a limp sack of flour. With another wolf howl, his compatriot in crime dove off the scaffolding and disappeared back into the mass of rampaging horseflesh.

With a wild cheer of his own and a good grip on the Cyote Kid's waist, Saguru urged his horse to follow suit and for a moment they were air borne. Time seemed to hover, just for a moment as the frantic horses rushed by them, legs pumping, eyes rolling as they cried out their fear. In the periphery vision, he was aware of the townsfolk watching everything from the safety of inside the buildings or clutching to porches.

Then his horse hit the ground with an audible 'thump', pitching him forward over the Kid for a moment and they were off and running again, surrounded by the large moving bodies that protected them from immediate retaliation. He could hear shouts behind and around them, over the pounding of the horses' hooves, but ignored them as the futility that they were.

The momentum of the rushing herd of horses carried them well out of town, the big white horses' tracks covered up by the other animals. He heard barking and slowed his horse down, who was beginning to sweat at the sudden exercise. Slightly ahead of him, he saw the other figure in white slow down his painted horse as well, circling it as they waited for Saguru to catch up. Together, they began to trot away, both to cool down their horses as well as put some additional space between them and any pursuit.

As they did so, Saguru became aware of another sound besides the clomping of the horses' hooves against the dirt. Kid was no longer gasping for breath and was instead saying something.

"Lemme go, lemmego, lemmegolemmegolemmego," Kid chanted over the noise of the pounding hooves.

If he was complaining, he was alive. Saguru grinned in relief. Kid would be alright.

Kudo Shin'ichi, now shrunken down to 'Edogawa Conan' and the third member of their party, rode up on the back of a large mongrel dog that had been introduced as 'Jumbo'. "Suck it up, Kuroba." The shrunken teenager grumped, a definite smirk on his face from what Saguru could see.

"If I let you go," Saguru informed him politely "You will fall off the horse. And most likely be trampled."

Kid went very very still, but he whimpered occasionally.

Hattori Heiji chuckled, pulling the fabric off of the lower half of his face and smiled broadly. In broad daylight, it was easier to see the dark colouring he'd gotten from his grandfather, one of the natives. "And after Saguru here went to all this trouble of picking out his namesake too."

"I chose this horse because Soushi commented that it had the best stamina for carrying two passengers." Saguru shot a dry look at the angelic looking Detective of the West as he pulled the wrappings off his face as well. "Not because my last name happens to mean 'White Horse' as well."

"Ooooh." Wicked devilment flashed across Heiji's face. "Size and stamina to ride all day long. I see."

Obviously, no help there. "How are your dogs?" He asked Conan.

The shrunken detective glanced back, spotting a border collie following them. "Ayumi's on her way." He reported. "Genta and Mitsuhiko will follow her after they finish scattering the rest of the horses on the other side of town."

Conan's small mixed 'pack' of dogs, the Inu Tantei, had come in handy when they had planned this escapade the previous night. He hadn't been sure of what to make of the lurking shadows that followed on the heels of the men in black shooting at them. There had been several wild moments of confusion until Soushi recognized Heiji as his rival in swordsmanship.

Talking followed and fast on the heels of that was comprehension. Saguru followed the travels and antics of the Cyote Kid. Heiji and Conan were following the mysterious people in black Kid had warned him about the first night. And after reviewing notes and maps, they discovered that the men in black were following the Kid.

Every single one of the Cyote Kid's heists took place anywhere from a few days to a few hours before the people Heiji and Conan were following got there. The highflying thief was determinedly foiling the villains time after time again.

If the Cyote Kid died, so would Kudo's best chance of tracking down the people who had shrunk him and reversing the process. He had a sweetheart back home, Mouri Ran, which he was eager to get back to. Hence the normally upright detectives had assisted him in saving the thief's life.

Soushi, as sheriff, was honour bound not to assist them do something that was technically illegal. That didn't stop him from making cryptic comments every so often about the lay of the land, best places to hide from pursuers or the odd advice about which horses would be better for a long ride.

Now all they had to do was drop their current horses off at the Onimaru homestead to be returned to Soushi, pick up different rides and ride off into the sunset.

Then hunt down the bastards in black once and for all.

Not a bad plan at all when he thought about it.

"So, Kaito..." Saguru grinned. The tousled haired boy pried one pinched shuteye open up to look at him. "I have LOTS of questions for you."

"Whatever." Kid agreed easily, closing his eyes again. After all, he now owed them one for the escape. "Just... after we get off the horse, 'kay?" The thief's voice wavered on the last word, like he was going to be sick. He -really- did not like horses.

Saguru's grin broadened and he noticed similar expressions on his companion's faces. Tension left his shoulders as he relaxed into the ride as it sunk in that they had succeeded in pulling their plans off. "Alright."

Because after those questions were answered, he'd have more questions and the Cyote Kid, Kuroba Kaito, would have more answers. And occasionally it might be the reverse.

But there would be many more meetings between the two of them in the future.

-Fin-

Ha! The last part of the Cyote Kid. Sorry it's taken so long, but this is the third or fourth take on this chapter. Once it clicked that we didn't HAVE to write everything in chronological order, everything fell into place.

**Typo of the Fic:  
**_" - until they were both safely above the crowd's restless **ass**. "_  
... whoops. #OO#

Noose information courtesy of dinner discussions with my Dad, and a quick websearch for Hell's Hauntress a while back. It should be noted that it is also illegal in some States in America to tie a noose with 13 twists in it, because of the reasons mentioned in the fic. Go figure.

Inspiration for the stampede comes from about 2 minutes of a movie we saw well over a year ago. No clue what movie it was, just that it was a western.

Anyway, thus ends the Cyote Kid. I hope it was as interesting a ride for you as it was for me to type it. Cause I never know how these things are gonna go... heh.


End file.
